Liao honored with trio of Omega China Tour awards
13/10/2008 17:25
Liao Guiming said he hoped to eventually play on the Asian Tour after he
was crowned as the 2008 Omega Order of Merit champion and picked up two other
awards during this year's Omega China Tour Gala Dinner at the Sofitel Wanda
Beijing.
The 31-year-old, who has played all of the 26 events on the Omega
China Tour since its inaugural season in 2005, also won the Best Stroke Average
award and was voted Most Improved Player by his fellow players on the Omega
China Tour.
Liao, the 2001 China Amateur Open, is the third winner of the
Omega Order of Merit, succeeding eight-time Tour winner Li Chao, who also won in
2005, and veteran Zhang Lianwei, victorious in 2006.
"I'm really happy.
Winning the Omega Order of Merit proves I have the ability. I had a great career
as an amateur but it took me five years to finally win as a pro," said Liao, who
turned professional soon after competing in the 2002 Asian Games with Yuan Hao
and Wu Kangchun.
"After winning the Sofitel Golf Championship in Nanjing, my
game went to a new level and now I have so much more confidence about my game. I
want to go to the Asian Tour Qualifying School and will talk more to Liang
Wenchong and Wu Ashun about the circuit. I wanted to go last year, but I had a
back problem."
Liao, who finished 17th at the season-ending Omega
Championship in Beijing after suffering with neck pain during the third round,
won a total of RMB375,125 during the season.
The Nanning-based battler
finished ahead of Zhang (RMB330,000) and 24-year-old Zhou Jun (RMB263,300), who
won RMB187,500 for his stunning wire-to-wire victory at the Omega Championship.
Li, winner of March's Dell Championship in Xiamen, finished fourth on the money
list with RMB243,000
Liao had recorded 10 top-10 finishes on the Omega China
Tour before finally securing his maiden victory in May in Nanjing, where he beat
Zhang in a play-off. The victory came on the back of a joint runner-up finish at
the Shanghai Championship and was followed by another second place at the
Luxehills Golf Championship in Chengdu, which saw him overtake Zhang at the top
of the Omega Order of Merit.
Liao finished fifth, ninth and 10th in the Omega
Order of Merit for the first three seasons of the Omega China Tour. The cheeky
Liao had joked at the Omega Championship that his wife had accompanied him for
the week as she would need to help him carry all his awards at the Gala
Dinner.
Big-hitting Yuan Hao won the Birdie Leader award, while Zhang won
Best Shot of the Year for a long, curling putt at the season-opening Guangzhou
Championship, which he went on to win. Beijing-based Sha Ke, 25, was voted
Rookie of the Year.
Luxehills International Country Club in Chengdu was voted
Favorite Course of the Year, while Dragon Lake Golf Club in Guangzhou was voted
Venue of the Year. Wang Shu of Sina Golf won Photo of the Year.
The Omega
Championship was held for the first time at the 27-hole Longxi Hotspring Golf
Club after two successful editions at the Tianan Golf Club, also in the capital,
when Liang Wenchong and Zhang emerged as champions.
Xinhua
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